Elizabeth allowed herself a smile, nodding as she fiddled idly with her riding cap, an elegant piece of black suede leather with lace and trimmings to match the rest of her ensemble. Despite being a century or so behind the times, the vampire believed herself to be quite fashionable. In a last minute decision made while watching Rain eat she let her hair loose, shaking it free to fall at about her waist. She feigned modesty, blushing prettily enough.

"Oh, thank you. You look quite dashing, yourself. Now answer me this: Have you ever ridden a proper horse before? One can never be sure these days, and I want you to feel quite at home. Now, as you can see I'm the slightest bit old fashioned, which means that I like everyone I live with to be the same. I believe it would be more comfortable for you that way." Smiling she batted her eyelashes, keeping her ex
pression light and casual.

--------------------

Scott jolted awake, nodding. Stiffly he moved to his closet, changing into clean clothing before going to stand in front of Lacey. 'Just do it. Don't be a wimp. It's easy. Just two words, you dolt.' With blush quickly spreading across his cheeks, Scott dropped his gaze, appearing as contrite as he possibly could. "Excuse me, Miss Lacey. I'm really sorry for how I snapped last night. It's just... I felt like I was... Betraying my people. By being so... Accepting. You know, about all this. About being a slave."

He really couldn't help it. The last word oozed from his lips, dripping with disgust. It was perfectly natural to hate slavery. To want to be free. Why was he even apologizing? Scott didn't know, but it didn't stop him from woosing out.

Rain smiled. "I used to live on a cattle ranch, you know. Of course I've ridden horses. I don't know what you mean by proper, though." Sure enough, Rain lived in Texas before the vamps took over, working on a cattle ranch. He was used to western-type saddles, and rowdy horses that were always full of energy.

~~~

Lacey smiled to herself. "I forgive you." She then turned around and said, "You look handsome today." She yawned and said, "I didn't sleep last night. Although, I didn't need to. Sleeping is just a habit for me."

~~~

April shook her head. "You're so confusing. One minute, you complain about me being too fiesty, and the next, you're saying that you miss all the fun." She frowned. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, her neck exposed. Although, she didn't notice it.

"Come with me to the animal room. I have some things to show you." Lacey led Scott to a room that was decorated with oriental furnishings. Inside of the room were several large cats. On the other side of the room was a door that led to a different room, where her exotic canines were kept. She sat down in one of the plush crimson couches, and her siberian tiger, Lily, jumped up into her lap, purring.

~~~

Rain smiled and immediately took the palomino mustang. He tacked the horse on his own, and insisted that he used a western saddle. He finished and mounted the horse, looking like a cowboy again. He smiled at the thought. The only thing that he lacked was a dog who would herd anything.

Seeing Rain in the saddle sent a swell of pride through Elizabeth's chest. This was her slave, this talented young man. This cowboy. With a grin she lept into the saddle, Jezebel arching her neck magnificently. She sighed, stroking the neck of her steed lovingly. Motioning for Rain to follow she trotted jauntily out of the stable, leading the way to a clear track of land. "Well, cowboy, shall I purchase a dog and some cattle to make you feel more at home here? Surely it can be arranged if you so desire." Lizzie smiled dotingly, like a mother at her favorite child. "Perhaps a contest of sorts is in order?"

 ---------------------------

Scott supressed a shudder, eyeing the big cats a little fearfully. This woman must've really wanted him dead. Luring him into a room of wild animals with huge teeth and claws. Still, after a moment of being paralyzed with fear he got to thinking. She couldn't still be mad at him, and if Lacey wanted to she could very easily defend him should one of the cats decide to attack. He quietly approached one of the cats, a snow leopard, who had been regarding him with icy blue eyes. Tentatively Scott scratched it behind the ear, making soothing cooing and shushing noises all the while. "There we are. Nice kitty. Good kitty."

Rain didn't make his horse hold its head up high. He scratched the mane of Hidalgo, and trotted after Elizabeth. He wondered if this horse could canter. He would figure it out later. "It wouldn't hurt to get some cattle. Plus, the cattle would help keep the grass trimmed. Have you ever done barrel racing?" He smiled excitedly. He won the texas state rodeo's barrel racing contest three times in a row. That is, before his horse died, and before the invasion happened. He felt his heart ache a bit, but he shook it away.

~~~

Lacey smiled and said, "Don't worry. They won't hurt you." She got up from the couch and said, "I raised them from kits myself." She walked over to Scott and patted the snow leopard, Winter, affectionately. "Ever since I figured out that I couldn't have children in the eighteen hundreds, I started buying animals and treated them like my children." She sighed. "After going through all of the dog and cat breeds, I resorted to more... exotic ones. Ones that would give me a challenge. Ones that nobody else wanted. I took in the most dangerous ones, and made them lovable."

Elizabeth had to keep herself from sneering, feeling some snooty comment or another about how civilized folk didn't run through barrels, and she quickly bit it down. Instead she merely listened, then shook her head politely. "I practice steeplechasing and show jumping, mostly, though I do have a spectacular racer. He is my crown jewel and I intend on racing him regularly this season, with a fine, tiny little thing to jockey him. But now, barrel racing is not quite the style that suits me. My taste is too distinctly British for it." She grinned, shrugging and hoping not to offend Rain.

---------------------------

A touch more heartened Scott set himself on the ground, laughing softly as Winter wrapped herself around him. "That's really cool. And she's just so soft, like a cloud. A big, fluffy, man-eating cloud." He began to snuggle-wrestle the massive feline, twining himself in the silky fur. At some point a cougar and black panther joined the rumble, until Scott found himself in the coziest kitty-pile ever. His laughter grew in volume, mixing with exclamations and playful threats against the tails of whatever cat had decided to bat at him gently. "Oooh, who's a good kitty? You are!" He felt like a kid again, only these cats were much bigger than the ones he'd grown up with. As Winter took the oppurtunity to lick kis face with her sandpaper tongue Scott giggled, trying to push her away in vain, ending up pinned and covered in cat-kisses.

Lacey whistled, and the cats ceased their playing. They came to her and she said, "Let me properly introduce you to the ones that you don't already know." She pointed to a black panther and said, "This is Nyght. The cougar is Render. The siberian tiger is lily." She patted a large male lion's head and said, "And this is Simba."

~~~

Rain said, "You should try it some time. It's a lot more fun than it looks. Although, I can't make you, so..." He smiled and said, "I used to have a horse that could run like the wind. He could make a cheetah cry in defeat, I'll betcha." He patted Hidalgo's mane.

Lacey smiled. She actually liked Scott; something that she had only experienced once. Her eyes then glazed over as she remembered her past. She came back and shook her head. "Would you like to see the canines' room? If you like cats, I'm sure you'll like dogs." Without waiting for a response, Lacey hooked her arm under Scott's and walked him to the door. She opened it, and it led into a room that had numerous exotic, endangered dogs in there. They all came to her, their tails wagging.

~~~

Rain smiled. "That's interesting. Well, my old stallion was a beautiful liver chestnut american quarter horse. His name was Shadow because he would follow you around the pasture wherever you went, just like your own shadow." Rain sighed, reliving his years as a cowboy. "He could win barrel racing against any horse you could name."

"Shadow died before the takeover. He got yellow fever and died." Rain's smile dropped. He nudged Hidalgo's side with his heel, making the horse go faster. If he was going to be sad, and possibly cry, he was going to do it alone. He sighed. Hidalgo was going at a fast run, but not quite a gallop. He stayed in sight of Elizabeth, to ensure her that he wasn't running away.

~~~

Lacey smiled. She got down with the dogs and patted their heads. She then layed down next to Scott and started rough housing with the dogs. Then, she got up and patted a maned wolf's head. His name was Leon, due to the long fur around his neck. She sat down next to her wolf, and wrapped her arms around his neck. She almost wanted to cry, for reasons from the past.

Rain smiled as Jezebel and Lizzie passed him. He nodded at Elizabeth's question, nudged Hidalgo into a gallop. It was bumpy, so he lifted his butt slightly off of the saddle, so that he was not thrown off. He then passed Jezebel and Lizzie with a smile. He was happy to be around animals, especially horses.

~~~

Lacey leaned into Scott, her face still buried in the fur of Leon's neck. She sighed, and one tear ran down her cheek. She didn't want to talk about the past. It would only make her cry more. The tear was quickly absorbed into Leon's fur, and the large fox-colored canine let out a sigh of his own. All of the dogs gathered around the three of them, and sat down, looking at their master with eyes full of worry.

Rain and Hidalgo held their own for a few minutes, but Hidalgo was more of an endurance runner, rather than a speed runner. Hidalgo slowed to a walk, and sighed. He put his head down and began to graze on the grass in the pasture. Rain dismounted, and patted Hidalgo's back. "You had a good run."

~~~

Lacey smiled at Scott, her fangs flashing. She let Leon go, and they all sighed once they saw their master smile. They knew that she was okay now. She hugged Scott and said, "Thanks for comforting me." She got up, sat on an ivory colored love seat, and crossed one leg over the other.